Sydney Transgender woman Katherine Wolfgramme has certainly got the attention of a group drag artists in her fight to change “Tranny Bingo” to a name that doesn’t incorporate defamation.

Wolfgramme has engaged a “Top Six” law firm as part of the latest Australian effort to stop venues from using the defamatory word ‘tranny’ in conjunction with bingo events.

“Some people feel that tranny is just a word and it’s unimportant”, Katherine told Planetrans,”[but] words can scar people for life when used with hate or ridicule, this is indeed a word but this word hurts hundreds, if not thousands of transgender people across Australia.”

This wakeup call from Katherine Wolfgramme came in part from an unexpected and powerful ally.

“I am very privileged that Allens, a very prestigious law firm has decided to represent me pro bono because they too understand this word is used as a tool of hatred and this is a community interest matter.”

“It’s time all cis Australians knew that this word is a word that’s offensive and should not be a part of the Australian vernacular.”

“I would like to say that I am disappointed at the timing of the article with The Trans* Day of Remembrance here yesterday and in the US today. I do think that the media attention may have been better focused covering that event.”
“ALREADY the NO supporters are saying this is the first attack of many which isn’t right. This was first raised in 2014 and we rejected the name change and over the past few months we have been working towards the new name as we feel the timing was right. It has NOTHING to do with Marriage Equality.”

The no supporters Penny mentioned were the ones who voted against same-sex marriage in the national Postal Survey. Interestingly, the New South Wales vote was the closest of all the territories. But of course, that vote had nothing to do with ‘tranny bingo in that sense, or did it? Nothing but nothing works better than a fully unified LGBTQI community.

Although they’ve changed the name to “Gender bender Bingo” Penny has yet to fully and meaningfully embrace the change.

The prior request to change the name of “tranny bingo” that Penny Tration eluded to was when Indiana (Indi) Kelly Edwards spoke out against it in 2014. Indiana told planetrans then that disassembling cis gay privilege was no easy task.

“It seems we are being dictated to by people who have cis gendered privilege on what is or isn’t offensive or harmful to us.” Indiana said. “As key stakeholders I feel we should at the very least have a say in this. What I am hearing from gay men and /or the drag community is that we don’t and we need to shut up. IMO its not their call to make.”

Katherine Wolfgramme is experiencing much of the same patriarchal response from cisgender society. unbelievably, one man who said in the thread below that his awareness as a gay male of trans defamation and respecting our minority by not using it would do nothing to strengthen LGBTQI unity!

Penny Tration started Tranny Bingo in Bondi in 2000. It’s now hosted at over 15 pubs across Sydney and Canberra.

One pub that received the letter, The Pendle Hill Inn, in Sydney’s west, has stopped running Tranny Bingo, but licensee Peter Adams said the demand was ‘ridiculous’.

‘The word “tranny”, for some people, is not acceptable. For a lot of people, it still is acceptable,’ Mr Adams told The Daily Telegraph.

Part of the letter said: ‘Our client is not requesting that the event cease. Rather, her request is simply that you change the description of the event and associated advertising.’
If the request was not met by December 22 further action would be taken with the Australian Human Rights Commission, the letter said.

Other pubs that received the letter include The Coopers Hotel in Newtown, Potts Point Hotel in Kings Cross and the Balmain Hotel in Balmain.

The Australian group ACON released a guide this TDOR outlining transgender terminology. It is well worth the read.

We have fought long and painful battles within the LGBTQI community stateside to educate and bring awareness to the cisgender population regarding transgender defamation. And we have been exceptionally successful. This isn’t just a victory for transgender people, it was an amazing unifying societal transformation that strengthened the LGBTQI community as nothing imaginable could have.

Katherine Wolfgramme, an adamant supporter of same-sex marriage appears in this video in the last segment,

It is my deepest desire that our LGBTQI community in Australia experiences the same success.